Opposition  to  Certain  Army  Officers  Casting  Reflections,  fly 
Pufllic  Interview  and  Otherwise,  Upon  the  Efficiency 
of  the  Army  and  Its  Preparedness  for  War. 


Discussion  of  the  McKellar  Bill  Providing  for  the  Joint 
Establishment  of  Military  Training  Schools 
in  the  Several  States. 


SPEECH 


OP 


OF  TENNESSEE 


IN  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 


FEBRUARY  26,  1914 


WASHINGTON 

1914 


32072 — 12872 


* 


5  S' b'.Ol 

\\\°k  , 


SPEECH 

OF 

HON.  KENNETH  D.  McKELLAB. 


The  House  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of  the  Union 
had  under  consideration  the  hill  (H.  II.  13453)  making  appropriations 
for  the  support  of  the  Army  for  the  fiscal  year  ending-  June  30,  1915. 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  time  allotted  to  me 
I  desire  to  discuss  with  the  committee  a  military  training 
schools  bill  which  I  introduced  some  time  ago  and  which  is  now 
pending  before  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  the  House. 

But  before  going  into  the  consideration  of  this  military  train¬ 
ing  schools  bill  I  desire  to  make  some  observations  concerning 
the  Army.  From  time  to  time  during  the  last  five  or  six  months 
statements  have  been  made  in  the  public  press  purporting  to 
come  from  high  officers  of  the  Army  reflecting  upon  the  effi¬ 
ciency  of  the  Army  and  our  preparedness  for  war.  Whether 
the  officers  of  our  Army  in  these  newspaper  stories  have  been 
accurately  quoted  or  not  I  do  not  know;  but  I  know  that  on 
Tuesday  last  I  received  a  pamphlet  under  the  frank  of  the 
Chief  of  Staff,  which  pamphlet,  among  other  things,  has  the 
following : 

The  present  status  of  the  Army  is  not  satisfactory  to  those  who  arc 
in  it  or  those  who  are  out  of  it.  so  far  as  the  latter  have  knowledge 
of  the  facts.  It  is  very  small  considering  the  population  and  extent 
and  exposure  of  the  country.  It  is,  we  hope,  very  efficient  for  its  size, 
and  we  believe  that  it  would  give  a  very  excellent  account  of  itself 
as  long  as  it  lasted  in  a  serious  war. 

If  ever  an  army  was  damned  with  faint  praise,  in  my  judg¬ 
ment,  the  American  Army  is  damned  in  the  above  excerpt  taken 
from  the  printed  article  written  by  a  Mr.  Orton  and  sent  out  by 
the  Chief  of  Staff. 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  That  was  written  by  whom? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  By  a  Mr.  Orton. 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  Who  is  he? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  do  not  know.  I  believe  he  is  a  professor 
in  an  Ohio  university.  Appearing  in  the  papers  from  time  to 
time  have  been  purported  statements  from  high  Army  officials 
that  the  Panama  Canal  was  in  danger  of  being  taken  by  the 
British  or  the  Germans;  that  Hawaii  was  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Japs;  that  the  Philippines  could  be  overrun  in  10  minutes  by 
Japan;  and  the  latest  scare  was,  according  to 'high  Army  offi¬ 
cers,  Japan  could  land  a  million  men  on  our  western  coast,  the 
idea  being  they  could  soon  overrun  this  country  because  we 
had  little  Navy  and  no  Army  to  protect  us.  In  talking  per¬ 
sonally  to  officers  of  the  Army  I  find  a  growing  desire  among 
them  to  say  that  our  Army  is  insufficient  and  that  we  are  un¬ 
prepared  for  war.  In  my  judgment,  this  grows  out  of  the  pub¬ 
lished  statements  from  high  officers,  to  which  I  have  heretofore 
referred.  These  high  officials  have  in  view,  of  course,  the  en¬ 
largement  of  our  Army.  They  are  constantly  talking  about  the 
32072—12872  ‘  3 


4 

great  standing  armies  of  Europe  and  comparing  our  prepared¬ 
ness  for  war  with  the  preparedness  of  France,  Germany,  and 
England. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  a  small  Army  of  about  89,000 
officers  and  men.  We  appropriate,  in  round  numbers,  $100,- 
000,000  a  year  for  that  Army.  This  does  not  take  into  consid¬ 
eration  the  120,000  men  in  the  militia  of  the  various  States. 
England  has  an  army  of  255,000  and  spends  $137,000,000  for 
her  army.  France  has  an  army  of  712,000  and  spends  $180,- 
000,000  therefor.  Germany  has  an  army  of  626,000  and  spends 
$204,000,000  therefor.  Russia  has  an  army  of  1,200.000  and 
spends  $281,000,000  therefor.  Japan  has  an  army  of  230,000 
and  spends  $55,000,000  therefor. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  by  a  simple  calculation,  that  the  average 
soldier  unit  is  paid  per  year  by  the  United  States  $1,125;  by 
England,  $500;  by  Germany,  $300;  by  France,  $250;  by  Japan, 
$240;  by  Russia,  $230.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  larger  the 
standing  army  the  less  pay  per  officer  or  man.  Do  these  Army 
officers  want  us  to  follow  this  foreign  example?  It  is  sure  to 
follow  in  the  end  if  this  kind  of  policy  is  adopted. 

Now,  it  seems  that  it  is  the  ambition  of  some  of  our  Army 
officers  to  create  in  this  country  a  large  standing  Army  in 
time  of  peace,  always  ready  for  war  at  a  moment’s  notice. 
This  is  contrary  to  our  history,  contrary  to  our  free  institu¬ 
tions,  and  has  always  been  held  by  our  real  statesmen  as  a 
menace  to  free  government. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  these  doleful  predictions  on  the  part  of 
some  of  our  Army  officers  about  the  inefficiency  of  our  Army 
and  its  unpreparedness  for  war  always  come  at  that  season  of 
the  year  when  appropriation  bills  are  being  considered,  and  I 
believe  they  come  from  a  desire  upon  the  part  of  these  officers 
to  scare  Congress  into  making  larger  appropriations  for  the 
Army.  The  latest  scare  was  given  the  Senate,  it  seems,  early 
this  month,  when  it  was  discovered  that  apparently  we  had  no 
field  guns  or  ammunition  in  reserve.  The  “  Gloomy  Guses  ”  of 
the  Army  had  made  a  touchdown,  and  they  got  the  appropria¬ 
tion  for  that  purpose  increased  over  $1,000,000  on  the  idea 
that  Japan  might  overrun  this  country  at  any  time  if  we  did 
not  appropriate  $1,000,000  more  for  reserve  field  artillery  and 
reserve  ammunition  therefor.  They  did  this  notwithstanding 
that  the  daily  papers  reported  the  news  from  Japan  that  she 
was  almost  in  a  state  of  revolution  and  bankruptcy. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  the  time  has  come  when  it  is  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  pass  a  resolution  or  law  prohibiting  Army  officers 
from  making  and  publishing  statements  reflecting  upon  the  effi¬ 
ciency  of  our  Army  or  upon  our  preparedness  for  war.  [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  Mr.  Chairman,  before  the  gentleman  leaves 
that  particular  part  of  his  discourse,  will  he  permit  me  a 
question? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Yes. 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  It  seems  to  me  I  read  in  the  public  press  or 
heard  about  the  Halls  of  Congress  a  few  days  ago  that  an  order 
had  been  issued  forbidding  certain  people  from  talking  too 
much  about  Army  matters  to  the  public. 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  has  been  or  not, 

but  I  know  it  was - 

32072—12872 


% 


5 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  There  was  such  an  order,  I  will  say  to  tlie 
gentleman,  and  it  threatened  to  put  the  Infantry  publication 
out  of  business.  But  the  gentleman  knows  that  the  chief  sin¬ 
ners  in  this  respect  have  not  been  the  subordinates,  but  the  high 
officials  of  the  War  Department  themselves,  and  they  have  occu¬ 
pied  pulpits  and  rostrums  and  availed  of  every  means  of  pub¬ 
licity  to  do  it.  I  ask  the  gentleman  if  he  does  not  believe  those 
should  be  stopped,  too? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  believe  that  anybody,  knowing  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Army  as  I  believe  I  know  it,  who  casts  reflections  upon  its 
efficiency  or  upon  our  preparedness  for  war  ought  to  be  criti¬ 
cized  and  dismissed  from  the  service.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  Does  not  the  gentleman  believe  that  it  is  an 
exceedingly  improper  thing  for  the  officers  of  the  Army  or  Navy 
to  criticize  the  policies  of  Congress? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  do.  I  believe  they  could  better  give 
their  time  and  attention  to  the  building  up  of  the  best  Army 
and  Navy  possible  without  undertaking  to  run  this  end  of  the 
machine. 

Mr.  CAMPBELL.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  gentleman  yield? 

The  CHAIRMAN.  Does  the  gentleman  yield? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  do. 

Mr.  CAMPBELL.  Does  not  the  gentleman  think  it  especially 
reprehensible  for  any  high  official  of  the  Army  to  send  out, 
under  his  frank,  such  a  statement  as  was  read  by  the  gentleman 
from  Tennessee  in  the  opening  of  his  address? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  have  just  said  so. 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  Reiterate  it. 

Mr.  KAHN.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  gentleman  yield? 

The  CHAIRMAN.  Does  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  yield 
to  the  gentleman  from  California? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Yes;  in  a  moment. 

Now,  let  us  see  what  the  facts  are,  for  a  moment.  We  have  a 
well-trained  little  Army  of  75,000  men,  officered  by  officers  the 
most  of  whom  are  trained  at  West  Point,  the  greatest  military 
training  school  for  officers,  perhaps,  in  the  world.  They  are  the 
chosen  young  men  of  the  country,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  I 
believe  to  be  the  most  capable  and  efficient  officers  on  the  face 
of  the  globe  to-day.  The  other  officers  are  taken  from  the  ranks 
and  from  civil  life,  picked  men,  who  know  their  business  and 
are  selected  because  of  their  peculiar  fitness  to  act  as  officers. 
This  Army  is  the  best  paid  army  in  the  world,  as  the  above 
figures  show.  It  is  the  best  fed  army  in  the  world.  It  is  the 
best  clothed  army  in  the  world.  It  is  the  best  housed  army  in 
the  world;  and,  for  my  part,  I  believe  to-day  it  is  the  most 
efficient  and  best  prepared  army  there  is  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  because  it  is  composed  of  American  citizens  who  are  not 
afraid  to  fight  and  who  are  the  superiors  of  any  race  of  men 
i  on  the  globe.  [Applause.] 

\  Added  to  this  Army  we  have  a  splendidly  trained  militia  i/( 
every  State  of  the  Union.  Added  to  this,  we  have  agricultural 
training-school  institutions  where  military  instructions  are  given 
by  Army  officers  of  the  United  States  to  thousands  of  young 
men  throughout  the  country.  Added  to  this,  we  have  a  great 
volunteer  force  of  the  United  States,  upon  which  our  country 
has  always  depended  for  protection  and  from  which  she  has 
always  received  every  protection. 

32072 — 12S72 


6 


Mr.  KAHN.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  gentleman  yield? 

Mr.  McKELLAB.  But  it  is  claimed  by  some  of  these  officers 
from  time  to  time  that  we  are  unprepared  for  war  because  we 
have  not  the  guns  and  ammunition.  The  Army  concededly 
has  all  of  the  small  arms  that  it  needs.  The  militia  force  of 
the  country  has  all  the  small  arms  that  it  needs,  and  we  have 
a  million  rifles  in  reserve,  in  addition,  that  can  be  put  into 
service  on  five  days’  notice  and  all  small-arm  ammunition  in 
reserve  we  need  for  these  rifles.  We  have  spent  nearly  $200,- 
000,000  since  Mr.  Cleveland’s  last  administration  upon  arming 
and  protecting  our  coasts,  and  I  believe  they  are  in  as  good  a 
condition  as  any  coast  defenses  on  earth,  armed  and  equipped 
and  ready  for  action  at  any  time.  But  the  cry  is  made  that  we 
have  not  the  field  artillery.  In  his  claim  before  the  com¬ 
mittee,  Gen.  Wood  stated  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  about 
1,300  pieces  in  reserve  and  ammunition  that  is  necessary  to  go 
with  them.  Of  these,  they  already  have  750  pieces,  and  in  a 
pinch  it  is  claimed  w^e  could  manufacture  500  pieces  a  year.  In 
the  fortifications  bill  this  House  appropriated  $450,000  for  field 
artillery  and  $900,000  for  ammunition  therefor.  This  bill  car¬ 
ries  $750,000  more  for  field  artillery  for  the  militia  and 
$1,000,000  for  ammunition  therefor.  And  yet  it  is  claimed  we 
are  not  prepared  for  war  because  wTe  have  not  the  field  artillery 
and  ammunition,  and  the  Senate  answered  this  claim  by  increas¬ 
ing  the  amount  in  the  fortifications  bill  $1,150,000. 

Now  I  yield  to  the  gentleman  from  California. 

Mr.  KAHN.  The  gentleman  has  been  criticizing  the  officers 
of  the  Army - 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Some  of  the  officers  of  the  Army. 

Mr.  KAHN.  Some  of  them,  I  should  say. 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  I  have  been  very  highly  complimenting 
the  general  officers  of  the  Army,  and  I  believe  they  are  entitled 
to  it. 

Mr.  KAHN.  But  does  not  the  gentleman  know  that  those 
criticisms  could  be  absolutely  stopped  by  a  simple  order? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  That  is  exactly  what  I  think.  I  think  we 
will  get  them  stopped. 

Mr.  SLOAN.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  gentleman  yield? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Yes. 

Mr.  SLOAN.  Should  not  that  order  come  from  the  head  of 
the  Army  rather  than  from  this  House? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  No;  I  think  when  certain  Army  officers 
undertake  to  get  appropriations  in  the  House  it  is  a  live  matter 
right  then  and  there,  and  the  House  ought  to  act  in  the  matter. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  no  desire  to  injure  anyone  on 
earth.  I  have  no  interest  in  this  matter  except  the  interest  I 
feel  I  ought  to  have  as  a  member  of  the  Military  Affairs  Com¬ 
mittee  of  this  House.  I  do  not  believe  that  these  officers  ought 
to  be  permitted  to  give  out  these  idle  vaporings  about  the  in¬ 
efficiency  of  our  Army  or  about  our  unpreparedness  for  war. 
They  are  misleading  and  incorrect,  and  may  at  any  time  involve 
us  in  trouble,  and  I  want  to  suggest  in  all  candor  that  I  hope 
that  these  officers  will  not  permit  themselves  to  give  out  more 
such  gloomy  statements,  such  misleading  and  improper  state¬ 
ments.  But  if  they  should,  then  I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  Con¬ 
gress  to  rise  to  the  occasion  and  enact  a  law  dismissing  from 
the  Army  any  officer  who  so  far  forgets  himself,  his  Army,  or 
32072—12872 


7 


liis  country,  as  publicly  to  speak  or  write  either  about  the  in¬ 
efficiency  of  our  Army  or  about  our  unpreparedness  for  war, 
whatever  his  purpose  may  be  for  making  the  statement. 

Mr.  SLAYDEN.  Is  it  necessary  to  invoke  a  weapon  so  power¬ 
ful  as  that  to  stop  indiscretions  of  speech  on  the  part  of  the 
officers  of  our  Army  and  Navy? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  As  I  stated  a  moment  ago,  I  hope  nothing 
more  than  a  suggestion  is  necessary. 

Mr.  SLOAN.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  gentleman  is  an  authority 
on  these  military  matters.  Has  not  the  President,  the  head  of 
the  Army,  the  authority  to  stop  these  things  at  any  time? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  That  is  probably  true. 

Mr.  SLOAN.  Under  his  oath  of  office. 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  It  may  never  have  been  called  to  his  atten¬ 
tion.  I  do  not  know  now  that  it  has.  I  do  not  believe  it  has 
ever  been  called  to  his  attention.  I  desire  to  call  the  attention, 
not  only  of  this  House,  but  the  attention  of  the  American 
people,  and  of  all  those  in  authority,  to  what  some  of  these 
officers  are  doing. 

Mr.  MOORE.  Will  the  gentleman  yield? 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  In  just  one  minute. 

I  would  not  belong  to  an  army  organization  that  I  did  not 
have  more  confidence  in  and  no  better  opinion  of  than  some  of 
these  officers  seem  to  have  in  the  American  Army.  In  everyday 
life  the  lawyer  who  is  always  overawed  by  the  splendid  case 
presented  by  his  opponent  and  doubtful  of  his  own,  is  a  certain 
loser.  The  business  man  who  can  always  succeed  if  he  just 
had  the  means  and  resources  of  his  competitor  in  business, 
never  succeeds.  And  so,  there  never  was  a  commander  who 
won  a  battle,  who  was  always  thinking  and  talking  of  the  in¬ 
feriority  of  his  own  forces  and  the  superiority  of  the  enemy’s 
forces.  Mr.  Chairman,  if  our  Army  officers  feel  compelled  to 
go  into  print  they  should  rather  follow  the  example  of  that 
sturdy  old  soldier,  Gen.  Miles,  who  in  a  recent  interview 
gave  stirring  expressions  of  his  patriotism  and  confidence  in 
American  arms ;  or  like  that  splendid  specimen  of  the  American 
soldier,  now  about  completing  the  greatest  engineering  project 
of  the  world,  Col.  Goethals,  who,  when  asked  by  a  newspaper 
correspondent  the  other  day  if  we  were  able  to  protect  the  canal 
said:  “There  never  was  a  doubt  about  it.” 

/  Mr.  Chairman,  our  standing  Army  is  large  enough  in  times  of 
/  peace — and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  American  people  would 
I  agree  that  it  should  be  made  any  larger — and  in  times  of  war 
I  we  need  have  no  fears  but  that  it  will  be  large  enough,  strong 
enough,  and  brave  enough  to  come  out  victorious  in  any  con¬ 
test  in  which  our  people  may  ever  be  thrown. 

Sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  entire  revenues  of  this  great  Gov¬ 
ernment  are  now  applied  to  war — past,  present,  or  future.  We 
contribute  yearly  $100,000,000  to  the  Army,  $140,000,000  to  the 
Navy,  and  $200,000,000  to  pensions,  a  total  in  these  three  large  items 
of  $440,000,000  per  year.  For  the  three  most  important  peace¬ 
ful  pursuits  in  life  we  appropriate,  for  education  $2,400,000  per 
year ;  for  agriculture,  about  $20,000,000  per  year ;  and  for  com¬ 
merce,  about  $5,225,000  per  year;  about  one-thirteenth,  in  all.  as 
much  as  we  pay  out  for  the  three  principal  items  of  war  alone 


And  yet.  Mr.  Chairman,  these  Army  officers  above  referred  t 
are  continuously  striving  to  increase  our  standing  Army  to 


'V 


8 


half  million  of  men  and  our  annual  appropriation  for  the  Army 
on  the  road  to  $500,000,600  in  an  endeavor  to  follow  and  pattern 
after  the  tax-burdened  and  oppressed  monarchies  of  Europe 
and  the  East. 

I  sincerely  hope,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  these  offending  Army 
officers  will  read  these  suggestions  and  hereafter  strive  to  get 
the  best  results  from  what  we  have  rather  than  in  the  vain 
endeavor  to  follow  plans  which  are  contrary  to  our  free  insti¬ 
tutions  an,d  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  American  people. 

I  appeal  to  them  in  all  kindness,  instead  of  these  persistent 
efforts  to  imitate  European  and  eastern  monarchies  in  building 
up  a  large  standing  Army  to  the  detriment  of  the  whole  people 
and  to  the  jeopardy  of  the  Republic,  that  they  will  heartily 
and  enthusiastically  join  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  military 
committees  of  the  House  and  Senate  in  building  up  the  most  per¬ 
fect  Army  organization  of  the  world  within  the  limit  of  num¬ 
bers  and  within  the  limit  of  cost,  which  in  times  of  peace  should 
never  be  over  $100,000,000. 

They  could  give  us  a  most  perfect  fighting  machine,  amply 
sufficient  for  the  protection  of  our  every  interest,  if  they  would 
devote  more  time  to  the  internal  workings  and  to  the  skillful 
and  economic  management  of  the  Army  now  provided  for  rather 
than  to  concocting  ambitious  and  dangerous  schemes  for  the 
enlargement  of  our  standing  Army  in  times  of  peace,  contrary 
to  the  settled  policy  and  wishes  of  the  American  people.  [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

THE  MILITARY  TRAINING  SCHOOLS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  how  much  time  have  I  occupied? 

The  CHAIRMAN.  The  gentleman  has  occupied  21  minutes. 

Mr.  McKELLAR.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  discuss 
the  military  training  schools  bill  which  I  have  introduced. 

This  bill  provides  that  a  military  training  school  shall  be 
established  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  State  and  of  the 
United  States  in  every  State  of  the  Union,  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  Alaska.  It  is  proposed  that  the  States  shall 
by  their  legislatures  designate  an  already  existing  institution, 
or  a  new  institution  to  be  founded  for  that  purpose,  to  cooperate 
with  a  commission  of  the  United  States  composed  of  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  War,  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  and  a  civilian  to 
be  appointed  by  the  President;  and  at  this  institution  there 
shall  be  educated  each  year  300  boys  between  the  ages  of  IT 
and  20.  These  boys  are  to  be  selected  by  the  county  superin¬ 
tendent  in  each  county  of  the  States  by  examinations,  com¬ 
petitive  or  otherwise.  They  are  to  be  selected  from  the  boys 
whose  parents  certify  they  are  unable  to  give  such  boys  a  col¬ 
legiate  education. 

The  State  is  to  furnish  the  dormitories,  grounds,  drill  grounds, 
and  teachers  in  the  academic  departments.  The  United  States 
is  to  furnish  the  military  equipment  and  military  instructions. 
The  entire  cost  of  each  boy  per  year  is  limited  to  $400.  The 
State  is  required  to  agree  to  expend  $40,000  and  the  Government 
to  expend  $80,000,  making  $120,000,  which,  divided  among  300 
boys,  will  pay  the  cost  of  their  education  and  training.  This 
sum  is  to  be  spent  by  the  boy  or  for  the  boy  as  the  trustees  of 
each  institution  may  determine.  The  course  is  to  be  fashioned 
as  closely  as  possible  after  the  course  of  instruction  at  West 
Point,  except  it  is  to  be  less  rigorous.  It  is  to  consist  of  a  three- 
32072—12872 


9 


year  course,  and  100  boys  are  to  be  graduated  each  year  from 
each  institution,  5,000  being  graduated  every  year  from  all  of 
the  States  of  the  Union.  , 

Mr.  MAPES.  Will  the  gentleman  yield?  . 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Certainly. 

Mr.  MAPES.  How  does  the  gentleman  arrive  at  his  figures 
of  5,000  graduates  a  year? 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Three  hundred  boys  in  each  school,  and 
there  are  50  States  and  Territories  in  the  Union.  By  a  simple 
calculation  that  is  15,000  boys,  and  one-third  of  them  will  be 
graduated  every  year. 

Mr.  MAPES.  The  gentleman  means  to  have  300  in  each 
State? 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Three  hundred  in  each  State  and  Terri¬ 
tory.  There  are  50  States  and  Territories,  and  by  a  simple 
mathematical  calculation  the  gentleman  can  see  how  it  will  work 
out. 

Mr.  MAPES.  What  I  rose  to  ask  particularly  about  was,  did 
you  propose  to  have  these  carried  on  at  some  existing  State  in¬ 
stitution  ? 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Let  the  States  settle  that  for  themselves. 
That  would  happen  perhaps  in  nine-tenths  of  the  States. 

Mr.  MAPES.  How  many  superintendents  would  you  have? 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  The  bill  provides  that  it  shall  be  under  the 
supervision  of  a  board  consisting  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the 
Commanding  General  of  the  Army,  and  a  civilian  to  be  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  President. 

Now,  somebody  in  criticizing  the  bill — I  think  it  was  sent  out 
by  the  Chief  of  Staff — said  that  it  would  cost  too  much.  The 
idea  of  talking  about  a  bill  for  the  education  and  training  of 
worthy  and  ambitious  boys  that  costs  a  little  over  $3,000,000, 
when  we  are  paying  out  nearly  five  hundred  millions  for  war 
and  only  twenty -four  hundred  thousand  for  education,  saying 
that  this  costs  too  much. 

Mr.  MAPES.  The  gentleman  proposes  to  pay  the  entire  cost 
of  the  education  of  the  300  boys. 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Take  the  boy  within  the  limit  of  $400, 
absolutely  take  charge  of  him  and  educate  him. 

Mr.  MAPES.  Give  him  a  collegiate  education,  as  well  as  a 
military  education? 

Mr.  McIvELLAR.  Yes. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  this  is  not  a  gratuity.  The  State  and 
National  Government  educates  these  boys,  but  they  are  required 
to  pay  for  it  in  service.  These  boys,  under  the  bill,  will  be 
graduated  between  the  ages  of  20  and  23,  and  they  are  required 
to  agree  that  they  will  serve  the  United  States  as  officers,  non¬ 
commissioned  officers,  or  privates  at  any  time  within  seven  years 
after  their  graduation. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  object  of  this  bill  is 
twofold.  One  is  military  and  the  other  is  educational. 

I  want  to  discuss  the  military  feature  of  it  first.  Everyone 
admits  that  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  is  a  great 
institution  and  an  indispensible  institution.  At  the  time  it  was 
established  the  whole  country  did  not  have  but  5,000,000  popula¬ 
tion.  Now  we  have  about  100,000,000.  It  is  apparent  that  we 
should  have  more  Federal  military  training  schools.  At  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point  the  average  cost  per  student 
32072—12872 


to  graduate  is  about  $20,000.  Under  my  plan  tlie  cost  to  the 
United  States  for  practically  as  good  an  education  will  be  $1,200 
per  student.  We  pay  this  $20,000  per  student  at  West  Point 
without  a  word,  but  the  Chief  of  Staff  in  the  pamphlet  sent  out 
on  Tuesday  points  out  that  my  bill  is  an  expensive  experiment 
and  that  the  money  ought  to  be  expended  to  pay  for  a  postal 
card  reserve,  which  I  will  refer  to  hereafter. 

In  the  next  place  this  bill  will  infuse  a  military  spirit  through¬ 
out  the  country,  as  boys  are  to  be  selected  from  every  county  in 
the  .United  States,  one  or  more  boys  from  each  county. 

In  the  next  place,  there  will  be  established  under  the  terms 
of  this  bill  a  splendid  body  of  picked  and  trained  and  educated 
and  ambitious  young  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  in 
seven  years  the  reserve  will  amount  to  35,000  of  these  young 
men  and  will  continue  at  this  figure.  I  want  to  say,  Mr.  Chair¬ 
man,  right  here  that  with  all  due  respect  to  the  officers  of  the 
Army,  who  are  contending  for  a  reserve  army,  I  believe  these 
35,000  young-  men  would  be  of  more  value  in  the  time  of  a  real 
war  than  half  a  million  postal-card  pension-pay  reserves  under 
the  plan  suggested  by  the  Chief  of  Staff. 

STATE  MILITIA  PLAN. 

In  the  last  few  years,  as  we  all  know,  there  has  been  a 
tremendous  effort  made  by  certain  Army  officers  to  increase  the 
Standing  Army  and  to  organize  a  reserve  force.  It  was  first 
thought  that  this  could  be  done  by  means  of  a  plan  which 
developed  into  what  was  known  as  the  “militia  pay  bill.”  By 
the  terms  of  this  bill,  generally  speaking,  the  militia  in  all  of 
the  States  were  to  be  made  a  part  of  the  United  States  Army 
and  they  were  to  be  regularly  paid  by  the  United  States  Gov¬ 
ernment,  the  first  appropriation  therefor  being  estimated  at 
about  twenty-five  or  thirty  million  dollars.  A  snag  was  struck 
in  the  outset  of  this  plan  by  a  provision  in  our  Constitution 
limiting  the  duties  of  the  militia  as  follows : 

To  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  to  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel 
invasion. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  militia  could  not  be  sent  out  of 
the  country,  and  this  was  the  defect  in  this  plan. 

In  the  next  place,  under  the  Constitution  the  militia  must 
be  officered  by  State  authorities.  This  in  times  of  war  always 
causes  trouble  and  dissension  and  makes  it  impossible  to  have 
that  cohesive  cooperation  that  is  so  necessary  in  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  Army.  For  this  reason  also  the  use  of  the  militia 
was  a  doubtful  matter.  It  was  again  urged  by  the  opponents 
of  the  bill  that  if  it  should  pass  the  nominal  militia  would  be 
increased  in  the  various  States  in  a  very  short  time  to  more 
than  a  million  men,  and  would  result  in  costing  the  Govern¬ 
ment  several  times  as  much  as  our  whole  Army  now  costs  us. 
Thus  it  seems  that  that  plan  has  been  abandoned. 

ARMY  OFFICERS*  PLAN. 

In  a  magazine  article  Capt.  William  Mitchell,  of  the  General 
Staff,  United  States  Army,  who,  no  doubt,  outlined  the  plan  of 
the  officers  of  the  Army  in  essence,  set  out  a  bill  which  he  pro¬ 
posed.  It  seems  no  member  of  the  Senate  or  House  has  yet 
been  brave  enough  to  introduce  it. 

This  bill  provides,  in  brief,  to  continue  the  present  Army  as 
it  is  at  a  cost  of  $100,000,000  per  year;  second,  to  organize 
32072— 12S72 


11 


what  is  called  a  continental  army,  providing  for  240,000  men 
at  an  estimated  cost  of  about  $26,000,000,  and  a  Regular  Army 
reserve — cost  not  limited — which  would  bring  up  the  total 
force  of  our  Army  to  510,000  men.  This  bill  is  declared  by 
Capt.  Mitchell  to  be  better  than  the  militia  pay  bill,  and  per¬ 
haps  it  is  if  we  were  a  warlike  Nation,  intent  upon  entering 
upon  a  mission  of  conquest.  While  this  system,  as  outlined  by 
Capt.  Mitchell,  is  a  very  attractive  one,  looked  at  from  a  war 
standpoint,  and  is  certainly  a  very  carefully  thought  out  one; 
still  it  is  safe  to  say  hardly  a  Member  of  Congress  could  be 
found  willing  to  vote  for  this  legislation.  It  is  predicted  that 
such  a  system  would  cost  the  Government  $500,000,000  per 
year  in  less  than  10  years,  and  this  alone  would  be  and  should 
be  a  sufficient  cause  for  a  rejection  of  the  plan.  In  addition  to 
that,  there  is  no  need  for  such  a  military  system.  Further,  it 
would  not  make  for  peace,  so  much  desired  by  every  fair-minded 
man  in  our  Nation,  but  it  would  almost  be  an  open  invitation 
to  war.  In  the  next  place,  no  State-rights  man  would  ever 
agree  to  it  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  too  large  a  central¬ 
ization  of  power. 

THE  VOLUNTEER  ARMY. 

The  Constitution  provides  for  the  calling  out  of  volunteers  in 
the  event  of  war — our  great  bulwark  of  defense.  The  young 
and  active  and  vigorous  men  who  go  into  the  Army  upon  a  call 
for  volunteers  are,  as  a  general  rule,  the  flower  of  our  young 
manhood.  They  are  inspired  by  patriotism;  they  are  impelled 
by  ambition,  they  are  steadied  by  a  desire  to  win.  They  be¬ 
lieve,  first,  that  their  country  is  right  in  its  undertaking,  and 
the  result  is  after  a  short  service,  as  history  has  taught  us, 
they  make  the  finest  example  of  the  soldier  in  the  world.  This 
was  true  when  men  fought  hand  to  hand  with  swords  and  with 
bayonets  and  on  horseback.  Warfare  under  these  conditions 
made  the  man  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  the  highest  aim;s 
and  purposes  the  best  soldier.  If  it  were  true  under  these  anti¬ 
quated  conditions  of  warfare,  how  much  more  true  is  it  now 
under  the  present  conditions  of  warfare?  There  can  now  be  no 
lines  of  march,  no  column  of  attack,  no  cavalry  charges,  no 
bayonet  charges,  no  use  of  swords,  and  little  of  pistols.  All 
these  things  w’ould  be  a  hindrance  in  modern  warfare. 

More  than  ever  would  the  result  of  a  battle  now  depend  upon 
individual  sagacity,  individual  action,  and  individual  efficiency. 
Training  is  necessary,  even  more  necessary  than  it  ever  was; 
but  it  is  a  different  kind  of  training.  It  does  not  mean  the 
mere  number  of  men,  but  it  means  the  skill  and  ability  of  the 
individual  man.  In  the  event  of  a  great  war,  more  than  ever 
we  would  be  dependent  upon  the  volunteer  force  of  our  country. 

It  has  been  seen  from  what  I  have  quoted  from  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  that  our  forefathers  on  the  subject  of  an  army  committed 
themselves  to  three  propositions — first,  opposition  to  a  stand¬ 
ing  army ;  second,  to  a  militia  system,  which  could  only  be  used 
to  “  execute  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel 
invasions”;  third,  reliance  upon  the  volunteer  forces  of  the 
country  for  an  army  in  case  of  war. 

So  that  it  looks  as  if  we  are  going  to  continue  to  rely  upon  the 
volunteer  system  wiienever  wTe  are  in  real  trouble. 

President  Wilson  recently  stated  in  a  speech  at  Mobile  that 
this  Government  will  not  again  wage  a  war  of  conquest,  and  I 
32072—12872 


12 


believe  that  he  expressed  the  overwhelming  sentiment  of  the 
American  people  when  he  made  that  statement.  Unless  we  are 
going  to  embark  upon  a  mission  of  conquest  we  certainly  do  not 
need  a  large  standing  army,  nor  do  we  need  a  reserve  army. 
At  the  same  time,  no  one  ever  knows  when  we  may  have  to  en¬ 
gage  in  war.  We  ought  to  be  prepared.  Our  youth  ought  to  be 
trained  in  military  institutions,  or  certainly  enough  of  them 
should  be  trained  to  disseminate  a  military  spirit  throughout 
the  country,  so  that  in  the  time  of  an  emergency  we  would  have 
not  only  the  trained  men,  but  we  would  have  the  best  class  of 
our  young  men  imbued  with  this  military  spirit.  This  has  been 
the  idea  of  our  great  men  all  the  way  down  the  line  from  the 
infancy  of  our  Republic  to  the  present  day.  The  first  year  of 
our  Republic  Mr.  Knox,  the  then  Secretary  of  War,  said: 

All  discussions  on  tlie  subject  of  a  powerful  militia  will  result  in  one 
or  the  other  of  the  following  principles  :  First,  either  efficient  institu¬ 
tions  must  he  established  for  the  military  education  of  the  youth,  and 
that  the  knowledge  acquired  therein  shall  he  diffused  throughout  the 
community  by  means  of  rotation  ;  or,  secondly,  that  the  militia  must  he 
formed  of  substitutes,  after  the  manner  of  the  militia  of  Great  Britain. 

President  Washington,  in  1796,  said,  in  a  message  to  Congress : 

However  pacific  the  general  policy  of  a  nation  may  he,  it  ought  never 
to  he  without  an  adequate  stock  of  military  knowledge  for  emergencies. 

Not  long  after  this,  in  1802,  Congress  established  the  National 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  N.  Y.  It  will  be  remembered 
at  that  time  that  the  whole  United  States  was  not  more  than 
half  as  populous  as  the  State  of  New  York.  That  school  is 
probably  now  the  most  famous  military  institution  in  the  world. 
That  it  was  wise  to  establish  it  is  beyond  the  question  of  doubt. 
It  is  a  little  larger  in  number  than  it  was  in  the  beginning,  but 
not  greatly  so.  It  was  virtually  the  same  institution  a  hundred 
years  ago,  when  our  population  was  not  much  more  than  one- 
twentieth  of  what  it  is  now. 

We  need  other  institutions  of  like  kind.  This  institution  has 
been  a  success.  Other  institutions  of  this  kind  will  be  successes, 
and  in  my  judgment  they  are  absolutely  necessary. 

In  1817,  just  after  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  a  committee 
of  this  House  declared  : 

There  can  scarcely  he  a  restraint  more  vexatious  and  disgusting,  to  a 
grown  man  than  the  initiatory  lessons  of  the  military  art,  and  that  to 
establish  a  second  militai’y  system  we  must  begin  with  the  youth  of 
the  country  ;  that  we  ought  therefore  to  devise  a  system  of  military 
instruction,  which  shall  he  engrafted  on  and  form  a  part  of  the  or¬ 
dinary  education  of  our  youth,  extended  without  exception  to  every 
individual  of  proper  age.  not  in  distant  schools  established  for  the  pur¬ 
pose,  hut  that  it  should  form  a  branch  of  education  in  every  school 
within  the  United  States. 

When  the  Civil  War  arose,  as  everyone  understood,  the  great 
trouble  was  a  want  of  officers  not  of  men.  After  this  war, 
likewise,  in  1865,  a  resolution  was  adopted  in  the  House  in¬ 
structing  the  Military  Affairs  Committee  “  to  inquire  into  the 
expediency  of  establishing  a  national  military  school  in  some  of 
the  States  of  the  great  Northwest.” 

About  the  same  time  other  bills  were  introduced  to  provide 
for  military  education.  In  1862  a  bill  was  actually  passed  which 
provided  for  the  detail  of  an  officer  of  the  Army  to  act  as  presi¬ 
dent,  superintendent,  or  officer  of  certain  colleges  or  universities 
having  not  less  than  150  male  students.  This  bill  was  passed 
in  1862.  Later  on.  in  1870,  a  bill  was  passed  which  provided 
that  a  Secretary  of  War  might  issue  small  arms  and  pieces  of 
32072—12872 


13 


field  artillery  for  the  instruction  of  students  provided  for  in  the 
foregoing  act. 

These  acts  unquestionably  have  been  of  real  service,  but  there 
is  no  cohesiveness  about  them,  and  there  is  no  way  of  a  forced 
utilization  of  the  boys  trained  in  such  institutions  in  the  event 
of  an  emergency. 

MY  PLAN. 

My  idea  of  the  situation  is  this,  that  we  do  not  need  a  large 
standing  Army  in  our  country.  We  do  need,  however,  at  all 
times  to  have  a  large  body  of  our  young  men  well  trained  and 
educated.  The  time  ought  never  arise,  in  the  event  of  a  war, 
when  we  should  lack  for  properly  trained  officers,  as  well  as 
men,  as  it  did  in  1861.  It  is  difficult  to  train  a  man  later  on  in 
life;  he  ought  to  be  trained  while  a  boy.  Our  officers  should 
be  made  from  the  best  material  that  we  have.  They  should 
be  well  educated.  They  should  be  educated,  not  with  a  view 
of  entering  military  life  as  a  vocation,  but  only  with  a  view 
of  entering  military  life  in  the  event  of  a  necessity.  If  another 
great  war  is  ever  fought  out  between  great  nations,  intelligence 
of  officers  and  individual  soldiers  is  going  to  play  as  an  impor¬ 
tant  a  part  as  physical  bravery  and  training.  The  two  should  go 
hand  in  hand.  Educate  and  train  5,000  boys  a  year,  graduating 
100  in  each  State  in  the  Union,  and  in  a  few  years  such  would 
be  the  military  spirit  created  in  all  parts  of  the  country  that  a 
call  for  volunteers  in  time  of  trouble  would  easily  bring  forth 
a  million  of  men. 

The  plan  that  I  have  put  into  a  bill  which  I  have  introduced 
in  the  House  performs  three  great  services: 

First,  it  educates  5,000  boys  a  year,  who  would  otherwise  not 
receive  a  college  education.  Second,  within  seven  years  there 
would  be  created  a  reserve  of  35,000  of  the  best-trained  men 
in  this  country  or  any  other  country,  who  would  be  lawfully 
required  to  respond,  and  who  would  respond  instantly,  to 
a  call  to  arms  by  their  country.  Third,  it  would  infuse  a 
military  spirit  in  young  men  throughout  the  country — not  one 
that  would  be  harmful,  like  the  spirit  that  would  rise  from  the 
establishment  of  a  large  standing  army,  but  one  that  would  be 
helpful,  in  that  our  people  would  know  what  our  country  could 
rely  upon  in  the  event  of  trouble.. 

A  REAL  RESERVE. 

Within  seven  years  under  this  bill  there  would  be  a  re¬ 
serve  created  of  35,000  young  men  between  the  ages  of  20 
and  30  years,  who  would  be  under  a  contract  with  the  Govern¬ 
ment  for  a  most  valuable  consideration  to  serve  in  the  Army 
whenever  called  upon  and  in  whatever  capacity  called  upon. 
With  all  due  respect  to  Capt.  Mitchell’s  plan  of  a  continental 
army,  as  shown  in  his  magazine  article  of  recent  date,  1  part 
military  and  99  parts  civilian,  and  what  we  take  to  be  his 
postal-card  reserve  of  170,000  more,  making  in  all  a  total 
reserve  of  410,000  men,  I  believe  if  our  country  had  to  fight  a 
real  enemy  the  35,000  young  graduates  of  the  several  military 
training  schools  provided  for  in  my  bill,  none  younger  than  20 
and  none  older  than  30,  would  be  immensely  more  effective  than 
the  nondescript  pension-pay-postal  posting  throng  of  410,000. 
In  the  event  of  real  trouble,  the  pension-pay  crowd  would  be  of 
doubtful  value,  while  the  postal-posting  crowd  could  never  be 
32072—12872 


14 


found.  On  tlie  other  hand,  the  kind  of  young  men  that  will  be 
educated  in  these  military  training  schools  would  be  those  wjio 
would  be  eager  for  the  fray.  They  would  be  at  the  right  age 
to  he  effective  fighters.  They  would  have  the  education,  skill, 
and  scientific  training  to  make  effective  fighters.  They  would 
have  education  and  knowledge  to  make  them  take  care  of  them¬ 
selves,  physically  and  otherwise.  They  would  have  the  courage 
to  do- things.  They  would  have  the  ambition  to  excel,  because 
each  one,  knowing  his  own  power  and  his  own  ability,  would 
regard  a  war  as  an  opportunity  to  advance  himself  in  the  race 
for  life.  It  would  not  be  a  question  of  pay  for  them,  but  a 
question  of  patriotism  and  of  gratitude  for  the  opportunity  that 
the  Government  had  given  to  them. 

The  difference  between  the  two  reserve  forces  might  be  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  well-known  story  of  two  boys  who  applied  to  an 
employer  for  work.  The  employer  asked  the  first  boy  what  pay 
he  wanted,  and  thinking  the  employer  had  not  offered  enough 
he  went  on  his  way  and  remained  without  work.  When  the 
same  question  was  asked  the  second  boy,  he  said  that  all  he 
wanted  was  work  and  the  opportunity  to  show  the  employer 
what  he  was  worth  and  the  employer  could  fix  the  pay.  In  a 
few  years  the  second  boy  became  the  head  of  the  establishment ; 
the  first  boy  became  a  marcher  in  Coxey’s  army. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  FEATURE. 

In  no  event,  however,  could  this  bill,  if  enacted  into  law,  be  a 
mistake.  Assuming  that  it  has  no  merit  at  all  as  furnishing  a 
reserve  for  our  Army,  assuming  that  it  would  not  be  an  aid  to 
our  volunteer  military  system,  yet  it  would  still  educate  5r000 
boys  a  year — 5,000  manly,  vigorous,  active,  intelligent,  worthy 
boys,  that  could  not  otherwise  get  a  collegiate  education.  This 
proposition  alone  should  cause  every  Member  of  this  House  to 
vote  for  this  measure,  for  as  a  measure  to  promote  higher  educa¬ 
tion  of  boys  in  this  country  it  could  not  be  excelled. 

No  State  rights  principle  is  involved  in  this  bill.  No  sectional 
principle  is  involved  in  this  bill.  It  gives  every  State,  every 
section,  and  every  poor  boy  in  our  country  a  chance.  It  will 
prove  a  great  boon  to  the  poor  country  boys  who  live  on  farms 
and  who  are  ambitious  to  make  something  of  themselves,  but 
who  now  have  no  proper  opportunity.  While  free  to  the  boy 
who  secures  it,  it  is  not  a  charity,  and  a  boy  can  accept  its 
benefits  Without  a  loss  of  self-respect,  because  he  is  required,  if 
called  upon,  to  give  his  services  in  return  for  his  education. 

The  National  Government  now  contributes  little  to  education. 
It  can  do  more  and  should  do  more.  It  should  pay  its  money 
where  it  will  do  the  most  good,  where  it  will  bring  the  greatest 
returns.  Could  it  be  imagined  how  greater  good  could  be  ac¬ 
complished  by  educating  and  training  well,  physically  and  men¬ 
tally,  5,000  ambitious  boys  each  year,  picked  out  according  to 
merit  from  every  county,  from  every  State  in  the  Union.  In 
such  military  training  schools  there  would  be  taught  self- 
reliance,  initiative,  pluck,  vigorous  action  in  all  undertakings, 
endurance,  true  regard  for  discipline  and  order,  regard  for  duty, 
patriotism  and  courtesy,  and  these  things,  together  with  their 
physical  and  academic  training,  would  fit  them  to  be  leaders  in 
every  walk  of  life,  civil  and  military. 

32072—12872 


15 


I  have  looked  over  the  biographies  of  a  great  many  of  the 
Members  of  this  House,  and  from  an  account  given  in  these 
biographies  there  are  but  few  men  here  who  would  not  have  in 
early  life  regarded  such  an  education  and  training  as  the 
greatest  boon  that  could  have  fallen  to  them.  It  would  have 
meant  much  to  the  most  of  us.  A  great  many  of  us  would 
have  regarded  such  an  opportunity  as  priceless.  Why,  then, 
should  we  not  arrange  this  for  those  who  will  succeed  us  here 
and  for  those  who  will  be  situated  as  we  were  in  early  life  or 
for  those  who  go  into  other  walks  of  life  so  that  they  will  be 
better  prepared,  better  equipped  than  we  were.  These  institu¬ 
tions  are  not  for  the  rich.  The  rich  are  excluded  from  their 
benefits  unless  they  pay  for  them.  They  are  for  the  poor  boys, 
for  the  boys  possessing  merit,  and  energy,  and  ambition,  and 
pluck,  and' bravery.  While  the  city  boys  are  not  excluded  under 
the  plan,  the  country  boys  will  be  the  largest  beneficiaries  under 
this  act. 

COUNTRY  BOYS. 

We  owe  the  country  boys  of  our  land  something  along  this 
line  and  should  give  it  to  them.  Many  of  them  may,  the  most 
of  them  do  not,  now  have  a  fair  chance  to  equip  themselves  for 
the  race  of  life.  It  is  true  we  now  find  these  country  boys  in 
the  front  ranks  in  all  professions  and  in  all  the  avenues  of 
business  and  trade  and  commerce.  They  get  there  by  reason 
of  their  pluck  and  ambition.  Let  us  aid  them  on  their  upward 
journey  by  educating  them  better  and  by  training  them  better. 
Let  us  join  hands  with  them  and  say  to  them  that  the  greatest 
Government  on  earth  feels  kindly  toward  them;  that  it  wants 
to  encourage  them  in  their  ambitions ;  that  it  wants  to  make 
more  capable  citizens  of  them ;  wants  to  help  them  upward  and 
onward;  wants  to  aid  in  equipping  them  so  that  the  best  in 
them  may  be  developed;  wants  to  make  them  the  highest  and 
best  type  of  the  American  citizen,  namely,  a  type  that  is  edu¬ 
cated  and  refined,  trained  in  mind  and  body,  fitted  for  the 
peaceful  pursuits  of  life  in  times  of  peace,  and  equally  fitted 
and  ready  to  defend  or  avenge  their  country  in  times  of  war. 

32072—12872 


o 


